People shouldn't force their views on society

Publication Date: 12/07/2006

After reading the letter titled "Smoking Ban Should Extend 50 feet" in the Nov. 15 issue, I thought to myself, "Why do some people insist on imposing their personal preferences on the rest of society?" Kristin Schmitt (author of the Smoking Ban letter) believes that the current 30-foot "no smoking area" around Purdue buildings should be extended to 50 feet because of the health threats second hand smoke poses. After looking at studies and articles pertaining to second hand smoke, I will agree that secondhand smoke is not good for you. In Kristin's letter, she says that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) classifies second hand smoke as a "known human carcinogen" and "that there is no safe level of breathing carcinogens." This may be true, but I do not believe that smoking a single pack of cigarettes could cause cancer, let alone second hand smoke that has traveled 30 feet, which are both considered unsafe by the HHS because of the carcinogens in the smoke.

The surgeon general says, "Secondhand smoke exposure is easily prevented ... Smoke-free indoor environments are proven, simple approaches that prevent exposure and harm." In the surgeon generals report on second hand smoke, tips to prevent exposure to second hand smoke were limited completely to indoor exposure. The only thing said about outdoor second hand smoke is to stay away from it. No facts, no studies, just stay away. I think I'll be OK if I walk next to my friend smoking while the wind quickly takes the smoke away and out of the vincinity.

The real problem that most anti-smokers have is that they are simply bothered by the smell (gets on your clothes, hair, etc.). In America, rules and laws cannot be enacted and enforced just so people like Kristin do not have to be aggravated. The rules Purdue University enforces have a much higher purpose than this. No matter where you go in this world, there will be smokers. Lighten up and learn to live with them. They have the right to smoke no matter how much it annoys you.

David DiGiovanni

Sophomore, College of Engineering